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In an interview with TIME Correspondent Bonnie Angelo last week, Senator Buckley noted some pluses in Nixon's conservative ledger, especially his Supreme Court nominations. But there is disenchantment: "A rush to embrace China without counting the cost to the United States has created too high expectations here. A full-employment-budget type of thinking removes the discipline of red ink and black ink." The political alternatives open to dissident conservatives, according to Buckley: "They can stay home. They will not go out and win new votes through their enthusiasm. This is very important, because it is the conservatives who hustle up the money, who are the shock troops in campaigns. If what is now a concern gels into outright opposition, Nixon will have lost a source of support, energy, drive and money."
The sense of betrayal of conservative ideals, the feeling of abandonment by the old Nixon they backed so long runs deep. Says one conservative Republican Senator: "The conservatives nominated Dick Nixon in Miami. They didn't go trooping off to Reagan. Now there's a general feeling that he's let us down, that the President is turning his back on his old friends to make new ones." Adds one of the "early birds": "I've had to grit my teeth and swallow hard to remain a loyalist."
Says Walt Hintzen, chairman of United Republicans of California, who found Nixon's decision to visit China "obscene": "Some of the Nixon men have implied they don't care about us, that we have no place to go. There are quite a few conservatives that are going to show Nixon that they have several places they can go."
Conciliatory Stance. But where? George Wallace, who announced his presidential candidacy for 1972 last week, holds to the basic conservative tenet of evangelical antiCommunism. Wallace, however, is too much a populist on economic issues and too intransigent on racial issues to receive nationwide conservative support. The most likely candidate to lead a right-wing insurrection is California Governor Ronald Reagan. His following in conservative quarters is wide. At 60, he could conclude that next year is his last chance to run for the presidency, although he is more often mentioned for the vice presidency (see page 12). But if Reagan indeed has 1972 ambitions, he clearly feels that an open break with the President on China—or on anything else—is no way to further them. He has discouraged efforts to crank up a conservative campaign in his behalf. He also took a conciliatory stance on Administration China policy, a serious blow to the anti-Peking enthusiasts.
Nixon can still stave off criticism from the right on the strength of his earlier hard line against Communism. Notes Congressman John Schmitz, a John Bircher who represents Nixon's home district in California: "If you get a reputation for being an early riser, you can sleep till 11." Says Chicago Businessman W. Clement Stone, a large contributor to conservative campaign coffers and Nixon's biggest 1968 financial backer: "After 20 years, we'd better face life as it is. Good common sense dictates that we take a hard look at that situation and put aside our emotions."